B.Ed (PE) Hons; GradCertEd. (Tertiary Ed.); GradCertUniLeadMgt; PhD (HPE) Brendon Hyndman is Associate Professor of Education at Charles Sturt University. His research examines how everyday school conditions shape children’s participation, wellbeing and learning, and teachers’ capacity to support them. His established work on play, recess and school environments connects children’s experiences with the physical settings, professional practices and institutional decisions that shape their opportunities. A central focus of his research is how schools translate the recognised value of play into the time, space, preparation and support needed to provide for it. His scholarship combines school conditions measurement and intervention research with studies of teacher practice and school policy. He is editor and principal author of Contemporary School Playground Strategies for Healthy Students (Springer, 2017), and co-editor of Health and Education Interdependence: Thriving from Birth to Adulthood (Springer, 2020). He also co-edited the 2020 Journal of Teaching in Physical Education monograph Social Media for Professional Development in Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy. He leads Play Latitude, a national research project examining the conditions surrounding recess, lunch breaks, yard duty and transitions. This work builds on research with teachers across 25 countries, identifying gaps between the importance attributed to play and the professional preparation available to support it. His connected climate research examines how weather, school environments and institutional responses shape participation and safety. With Jennifer Vanos, he co-edited The Impact of Extreme Weather on School Education: Protecting School Communities (Routledge, 2023). His research translation includes co-development of ACHPER’s national position statement on school recess for active play, a contribution featured in Play Australia’s State of Play 2025 report. He serves on Play Australia’s Board with an Evidence and Impact remit and is a founding member of the Global Recess Alliance. His editorial appointments include Associate Editor of Cogent Education and SAGE Open, Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Play, and the Physical Education and Sport Editor with Springer’s Sport Sciences for Health. Previous leadership roles include Associate Dean (Research), Associate Dean (Academic), Sub-Dean (Graduate Studies), and Senior Manager of Research, Innovation and Impact at Brisbane Catholic Education. His articles for The Conversation have attracted approximately 1.25 million reads as at September 2026. He also communicates research through national media and invited speaking, including TEDx Albury. He welcomes research collaborations, doctoral enquiries, policy advisory work and invited keynotes on play, school environments and the conditions supporting participation. Brendon’s teaching and supervision focus on teacher education, educational research and research literacy, Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE), wellbeing, and evidence-informed educational practice. His teaching uses digital learning, authentic assessment, simulated practice and guided research activities to strengthen teacher capability and student engagement. His scholarship in teaching and teacher education includes work in physical education pedagogy, social media for professional development, and innovative approaches to practice-based learning. Across his academic roles, he has designed authentic, practice-relevant learning experiences that support educators to respond to wellbeing, inclusion, and the broader realities of contemporary schooling. He has also demonstrated sustained leadership in curriculum and research training through higher degree research supervision, doctoral examination, and the development of honours and graduate research pathways. Brendon’s research investigates how access to time, space and materials, environmental exposure, professional preparation and school decisions shape participation. It combines measurement and intervention studies, research with children and educators, and analyses of environmental exposure and equity. Current research areas and projects include:
Professorial Staff3792722
Associate Professor Brendon Hyndman
Associate Professor in Education
Albury / Wodonga
Building 763, Room 118